‘If You Think I’m Forgot You’re Mistaken’ Bre’s Tales from Beyond the Grave
Kirkyard sleuth recovers remarkable stories of Galloway folk
There’s no place more packed with fascinating stories than a kirkyard – a place where Caribbean pirate hunters and heroes lie silently beside murderers and rogues.
When not behind the counter at his Wigtown bookshop, New Chapter Books, Bre Martin is likely to be discovered – notebook in hand - haunting one of Galloway’s many burial grounds.
He has made it his mission to record the names, inscriptions and epitaphs on the region’s headstones before they crumble into dust, and then carry out detective work to discover what he can about the people laid to rest beneath them.
His new book Kirkyard Chronicles, which he will be discussing at Wigtown Book Festival, reveals some of the stories uncovered by the graveyard sleuth.
Revived stories
The results have been remarkable, revealing a cast of characters and a variety of stories equal to any work of fiction.
Among the people whose life stories he has revived are those of Allan McGowan, buried in Kirkinner’s old kirkyard, who started his naval career on board ships chasing down privateers in the Caribbean and Edward Carroll, buried in Wigtown’s old kirkyard, who’s escapades on a Wigtownshire railway line brought him to the attention of the police.
Compelling inscriptions
And it’s not just the stories behind the headstones, it can be the spirit displayed by the inscriptions that’s compelling.
Bre said: “When I was child, there was a stone in Whithorn’s old kirkyard that caught my eye.
“It was of a mariner by the name of William Broadfoot, but it wasn’t the inscription on the front that made it interesting but rather what appears on the back: ‘If you think I’m forgot, you’re mistaken’.
“I love the fact that this was included, and that this inscription, though worn and weathered, still points a defiant finger at the passerby after all this time.”
Detective work
Originally Bre simply intended to record and investigate the stones in Wigtown’s kirkyard, but as time went on and the stories he unearthed became more fascinating, he branched out into the neighbouring kirkyards to see what else was waiting to be discovered.
Once he has a name and inscription the real detective work begins. Recovering the details of people who have sometimes been dead for centuries can involve hours of painstaking research, pouring over old records, books and newspapers.
Over the years his research attracted growing interest and he was invited to do talks about what he had uncovered.
This led to the suggestion of the book, which is published by Jayne Baldwin of Foggie Toddle Books, based in Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town.
A hobby full of pleasure
Far from being a morbid activity, Bre says that his hobby is full of pleasure: “I can’t think of anything better than wandering round Galloway’s old kirkyards.
“They shouldn’t be seen as a place of death. A stroll around an old kirkyard surrounded by nature, history, and peace, can do more for your heart and soul than you may think.”
If he has one lament it’s that our ancestors were, in some ways, much better at memorialising the dead than we are today.
He said: “We’ve learned a lot from the 17th,18th and 19th-century headstones which tended to be made of sandstone which weathers badly, but now we have rows of impersonal granite.
We’ve lost the individualism of the headstones in old kirkyards where no two were the same.”
So, as an expert in the subject, what would he like when his own time comes?
Bre said: “I’d probably go for something that defies council regulations and requires air-traffic to be warned when flying close to it.”
You can book tickets for Bre's event on 1st October here and check out the full programme on the Wigtown Book Festival website.
